Toy.



T. 1. IRWIN.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. 191s.

Patented Mair. 6, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I'v.7 i.

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WTNESSES A TI'HNEYS THOMAS JAMES IRWIN, 0E TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 6, '1917) Application filed May 2, 1916. Serial No. 94,895.

To all whom t may concern.' l

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. IRWIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Toy, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the construction of toys, and more particularly to a toy of that type in which sand or equivalent granular material feeds into a car to cause the latter to move by gravity from a receiving to a discharging position.

The invehtion has for its general objects to provide a novel toy which is capable of easy erection or dismantling by and to the amusement of children, the toy embodying in its design a pair of oppositely acting cars or receptacles adapted to be alternately filled, whereby the lled car descends to a position where it automatically discharges its load, but in descending it raises the other car to receiving or filling position.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a hopper and chutes so arranged as to alternately fill the cars, there being valves which are automatically opened by the ascending cars, and there also being adjustable spouts whereby the flow of material can be automatically cut 0E when the weight of the material in the car is suiiicient to overbalance the empty car andraise the latter, and thus by adjusting the spouts the toy can be used for heavy or light granular material with equal facility.

The invention has as an additional object a novel arrangement of means for automatically returning the material after vbeing discharged by the cars to the hopper, so that the toy or machine will continuously operate as long as the power is supphed.

IVith such objects in view, and others.

which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of constructionand arrangement of parts which will be set forth with particularity in the following description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention and wherein similar characters of reference views,

Figure l 1s a side view of the toy with indicate corresponding parts in all the portions in section;V

Fig. 2 1s an end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on thel line 3 3, Fig. 1

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view. on the line gil, Fig. l g

Fig. 5 is acfragmentary sectional view of the hopper; and

F ig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of one.

of the buckets. Y

Referring to the drawing, A designates the base of the apparatus, B the frame, C the hopper and chute construction, D the cars and E the conveying mechanism for returnmg the material to the hopper..

The parts of the toy are so designed that they can be readily taken apart for packing into a small space, `and in this regard the toy is of the construction type for exercising the ingenuity of the'child in putting the toy together and taking it apart.

The base A comprises a frame l on the top of which is fastened a horizontal bedplate 2. On this plate the superstructure of the toy is supported. Rising from the ends of the vplate 2 are short posts 23 securely fastened'in place which serve to detachably anchor the frame B on the base A. The center of the bed plate 2 has a transverse trough 4 into which the sand or other granulaimaterial is discharged by the cars or carriers D.

The frame B is composed of sections of tubular stock detachably fastened together,

and embodies at opposite sides a pair of uprights 5 which have their lower ends fitted over the posts 3 and their upper vends receive connecting lugs or studs fastened to the ends Vof a pair of horizontal, spaced bars .7, which latter are connected by transverse The construction C comprises a centrall hopper 9 having oppositely inclined chutes 10 which are fastened to vertical plates 11 stan dards.

which are portions of angle brackets 12 detachably secured to the rods 7 by means of bolts 13 which pass through the horizontal plates 14 and the rods 7. `rThe plates serve as `Stoppers for holding the material in the chutes and each plate 11 has an opening 15 controlled by a cut-off valve 16, `the latter being pivoted at 17, as shown in Fig. 2, and having an arm 18 which carries a weight 19 for yieldingly holding the valve in closed position. vThe lower end of each chute has an opening 2O in its upper side which is closed by a slide valve 21 that can be opened to clear out the chute it it should become clogged. rlhehorizontal member 14 oieach bracket 12 has a Ispout 22 provided with-a vertically adjustable section 23, whereby the discharge end of the spout can be raised or lowered to thereby control `the amount of material that is fed into a carer holder l), according to the weight of the material which will'constitute a charge. This spout 22 is located between the standards so as to enter the car D, which isopen at the top.

The cars D slide between the standards 5 and have shoes 24 for slidably engaging the Each car is provided with a cross-bar 25' inV which engage hooks 26 on the ends'of cables 27. 'These cables extend over guide pulleys yQ8 carried by shafts 29 on the upper ends of. the standards, and the cables extend troni one side of the niachine to the other and suspend the cars so thatlwhen one car moves upwardly the other moves downwardly. Each ear is a box-like receptacle having a sloping'bottom 30 and a discharge opening 31 'in the side toward which the bottom slopes, and this opening S1 isv closed by a pivoted valve 32 which has a -weight-carrying arm to hold the valve closed. Each car carries an adjustable member 34fwhich extends upwardly and is adapted to engage the associated chute valve 1G soas to open the latter and*causematerial to flow out of vthe ychute into the raised car. As'soon as the 'car receives its proper amount of vmaterial it moves down byr gravity, and the open valve 16 is caused' to close by gravity. As the loaded car moves downwardly `the valve 32 thereof is finally opened by thev arm of. the valve striking an adjustable stop' carriedby the standards adjacent the bottom of the trame. The niaterial discharges from the carsdown chutes which 'incline tothe trough 4 to Adeliver the material 'to the latter. These chutes 3G have hooks 37 on their-upper ends for engag' disposed in the trough 4 and the upper end guided around a sprocket wheel 42 carried bystandards 43 above the hopper 9. The buckets in descending enter the top and take `up some of the loose material, and as the loaded buckets descend they inally empty their contents into the'hopper. rllvhefendless conveyer is operated in any suitable manner,

' as,'tor -instance-by an electric motor 44 on the base A, and which is controlled by a switch45, the motor being.operativelycon-v nected k'through suitable transmission with the sha'i't 46,011 whiohis the sprocket 41 lfor the endless chain 39. In taking'the 'toy apart 'oft course the'chain' isdetached from its sprocketas a preliminarystep. "When' the parts of vthe `toy are put'together it forms aconiparatively rigid :structure and can l'be moved about 'from vplace lto place with safety.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,

theV advantages of the construction and method of operation will be'readiflyfunderstood by thoseY skilled inl the'art toA which the `invention appertains, andwhile 'liave described the principle of opera-tion, :together with the apparatus which Ino-w'consider to be the bestembo'diment thereoii, I desire to have it understood that; the apparatus shownis merely illustrative-and that such changes may Ibemade when desired-'as allwithin the scope-'ot the appended claims.

4Having 'thus described' my invention i1 clainras new and' desire to-secure by Letters Patent:

1. ri' toy of the class Y:describedcompr-ising a supporting structure, a ycentral hopper disposed at the upper part thereof, a well, an"endl:ess conveyer discharging material from the well to' thel hopper, oppositely moving cars connected together, means controlledby'ea'ch car, whereby a load-'is delivered Afrom the liopper-to one car at a time, vso that the descending car elevates the other car, andfmeans oid'elivering the load of a descended car to the said well.

2jr-i toy of the class'described Vcomprising a vsupporting structure, a central hopper, chutes connected therewith and extending in vopposite fdirections, valves normally. closing the chutes,v a carinovable up anddown in line with the lower-end -of-'each chute, means on the car for opening the` valves, valves on the cars, means in the' path of the cars for opening the valvesl thereof when the `cars move downwardly to apred'etermined position', means'for delivering the contents of the cars to a common point, and means for delivering the VVmaterial from such commonA point to the saidhopper.

3. A' toy oiE thel class describedcomprising a supporting structure, a central hopper, a well under the hopper, outwardly diverging chutes connected with the hopper, cars movably mounted on the said structure vertically in line with the lower ends of the chute, valves controlled by the cars for supplying material from the chutes to the cars, means for connecting the cars together to move alternately, downwardlyconverging chutes for directing material to the said well, means for discharging the material from the cars to the last-mentioned chutes, and means for transferring material from the well to the said hopper.

4. A toy of the classdescribed including a chute, a'n adjustable spout at the lower end thereof, an open-top car movable vertically to and from the chute, a valve actuated by the car for controlling the dischargey of material from the chute to the spout, and means for movably mounting the car.

5. A toy of the class described comprising a base, a frame supported thereon, vertically movable cars guided on the frame, means for connecting the cars together, whereby a filled car descends and causes the other car to ascend, a hopper device removably mounted on the top of the frame, at the center and between the cars, adjustable spouts at the discharge portions of the hopper device and adapted to extend into the cars when in their uppermost position, and valves controlling the flow of material from the hopper device.

6. A toy of the class described comprising a base, a frame supported thereon, vertically movable cars guided on the frame, means for connecting the cars together, whereby a filled car descends and causes the other car to ascend, a hopper device removably mounted on the top of the frame, adjustable spouts at the discharge portions of the hopper device and adapted to extend into the cars when in their uppermost position, valves controlling th-e flow of material from the hopper device, and adjustable members on the cars for engaging and opening the valves.

7. In a toy of the class described, a supporting structure, a central hopper, chutes leading downwardly from the hopper in opposite directions, valves controlling the chutes, cars movable toward and from the chutes, and means carried by the cars for opening the valves.

S. In a toy of the class described, a supporting structure having spaced vertical guides, a hopper on the center of the structure at the top, chutes leading downwardly from the hopper to the guides, valves controlling the chutes, cars movable in the guides toward and from the chutes, means carried by the cars for opening the valves,.

and means associated with the valves for closing the same as the cars descend.

9. In a toy of the class described, a supporting structure, a hopper, chutes leading downwardly from the hopper, valves controlling the chutes, cars movable toward and from the chutes, means carried by the cars for opening the valves, means associated with the valves for closing the same as the cars descend, and adjustable spouts through which the material discharges from the chutes to the cars.

10. A toy of the class described comprising a trough, chutes for discharging material into the trough, cars movable toward and from the chutes to discharge material thereto, and automatic means for supplying material to the cars.

THOMAS JAMES IRWIN.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH L. SULLIVAN, ANDREW WATSON.

Copies ofA this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner -of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

